Deep, deep in a jungle so green and so bright, where butterflies danced and birds sang with delight, there lived a great tiger with stripes of deep gold. He paced in a cage, oh, a sad sight to behold!
The cage had been placed by the tall jungle trees, and the tiger would cry on the warm, gentle breeze: “Oh please, kind friend, please let me go free! I am lonely and hungry, oh, help little me!”
The Kind Hearted Brahman
Along came a Brahman, so gentle and good, who walked through the jungle just as kind people should. His heart was as soft as a cloud in the sky, when he heard the tiger, he let out a sigh.
“Oh dear,” said the Brahman, “you look so sad! To see you all locked up makes me feel very bad. But tigers eat people, or so I have heard…” The tiger looked gentle and said not a word.
“I promise,” said Tiger, “I promise you true! I will never, not ever, do harm unto you! Please open the door and let sunshine come in, oh, please, dearest Brahman, oh please, let me win!”
The kind-hearted Brahman, with love in his heart, though the Brahmin and the tiger were so far apart, slid open the latch with a click and a creak. The tiger leapt out with a roar and a shriek!
Tiger Breaks His Promise
But oh! What happened next made the Brahman go pale. The tiger turned round with a swish of his tail. “You freed me,” he growled, “and now I am here. And I am so hungry, so you must not fear… me eating you up, for that is my right! Good things done for tigers don’t last through the night!”
“Oh no!” cried the Brahman. “That cannot be fair! Surely kindness deserves something good, do you dare?” He begged and he pleaded with trembling knees. “Please ask someone else if you wish, ask the trees!”
The tiger agreed to this one little thing. The Brahman went running, his heart on a string. He asked the old tree: “Is it right what he said?” The tree shook its branches and drooped down its head.
“Alas,” groaned the tree, “people do me no good! They take all my fruit and they chop all my wood. Good things are forgotten, that is what I know.” The Brahman walked on through the jungle below.
He asked the old road: “Is the tiger quite right?” The road gave a sigh in the soft fading light. “Oh yes,” said the road, “people walk over me all day and all night without a ‘thank you’ or glee.”
Poor Brahman sat down by a river so wide, with teardrops that sparkled and fell to one side. It seemed like the world said: “Good deeds bring no cheer.” And then, clip clop clip, a small jackal drew near!
The Clever Little Jackal
The jackal had big, twinkling eyes full of fun. He tilted his head in the warm golden sun. “Oh Brahman, dear Brahman, what makes you so blue? Come, come, tell me all, I will help if I do!”
The Brahman told Jackal the whole story through, of the cage and the tiger and what it came to. The jackal scratched one ear and wrinkled his snout. “I don’t quite understand, I must think this all out.”
“You say there was a tiger, a big one, you say? And a cage in the jungle not so far away? How big was this tiger? And how big the door? Oh my little brain is so muddled and sore!”
“Come, show me!” said Jackal, skipping along. They found the big tiger still stripy and strong. “Now show me the cage and show me how tight!” The tiger stepped in to demonstrate right.
“Like this?” asked the tiger. “I lay here like so.” “Exactly like that!” cried the jackal. “Now oh! I see how it happened, I see it all clear. But tell me dear tiger, how came you in here?”
The tiger crept in and he crouched very small. “The door, it was open, right here in this hall…” Then CLICK went the latch with a smart little snap! And the jackal had set a most brilliant trap!
Back to the Cage, A Happy Ending!
“Oh!” roared the tiger. “You tricked me, you sly fox!” “I am a jackal!” he laughed from outside the locked box. “And tricking the wicked is perfectly fine, when kindness is broken, we must draw the line!”
The Brahman jumped up and his face lit with glee! He clapped his two hands, “Oh thank you!” cried he. The jackal bowed low with a wink of one eye. “Be careful with tigers!” he called as he waved goodbye.
The tiger sat grumbling all locked up once more. The jungle grew quiet beside the old door. The birds started singing, the flowers grew tall, and kindness was safe in the forest for all.
What We Learn from The Tiger, the Brahman, and the Jackal?
A Brahman with kindness that never grew stale, of the tiger the Brahman and the jackal so bright, and how clever small friends can make everything right. Being good and being kind is a beautiful thing, but a wise little friend is worth more than a king. And when someone is wicked and breaks a kind vow, a smart little jackal will show you just how! So sleep, little darling, sleep soft, sleep tight, the jungle is peaceful, and goodness shines bright.